Do you feel like your “ball & chain” is actually your washing machine with all the laundry you do? Does Mount Washmore appear in your home if you skip even just one dat? If so, it would most likely benefit you to create a laundry schedule or tweak your existing one.

We are a family of 5 that had always just done it as needed which well hasn’t been working too well for us because that can also be taken as, don’t do it if you don’t need clothes lol. Anyway we always end up with too much laundry and with 3 teenage daughters we were finding much of it wasn’t even dirty but ended up mixed together either from them falling behind or from their lil morning fashion shows before school but once mixed up it all needed to be done over which is frustrating and such a waste of time and money. They have been responsible for their own laundry since they were very young however rather than getting better at it over time…they got worse! Our home was finally just becoming piles upon piles of laundry clean, dirty and ahh hell nobody knows lol.

The worst part is when you want to beven a laundry schedule/routine but have already fallen so far behind that catching up begins feeling hopeless with no empty basket in sight. I tend to get very overwhelmed when I feel things are out of control or I’m buried by things that shouldn’t have gotten that bad. Now with only one washer and dryer you can only go at their speeds not your own pace, laundry is one task you can’t just “get done quick”.

There are many things you can do to resolve this issue. One common thing that most try is doing laundry in between other daily tasks, that way you aren’t just “watching water boil” so to speak if you’re keeping busy. Another simple solution that I am personally fond of is to gather all of it and take it to the Laundromat where you can do all the loads at once, yes I know that sound tedious as well as not as cost effective when you own a washer/dryer however if you do get into the rut of falling that far behind and trust me it does not take much to get lost in Mt Washmore… Then the laundromat is truly the simpler of solutions and when it comes down to it is not as costly and is great for time management. Many places also now have drop off services for same day wash/dry/fold, some for only a few cents more per lb for pick up/delivery as well and it’s honestly not any more than paying and using the machines, surprisingly it’s very reasonably priced and best part is ALL the work is done for you! My husband and daughter recently got our family caught up and although I told him to just use the service he chose to do it himself to save a few bucks. In the end it did not save any money and was more time consuming only because the dryers were crap and had to be turned back on so many times. Hey, don’t worry he still got the credit for even doing it at all though. 😉 😉

The laundromat is not a permanent solution of course, once caught up it’s best to try and be proactive and stay on top it, that’s where not only creating but enforcing a laundry schedule comes in handy.

Ask yourself these questions to know what will work for your family.

1. How Many Loads Of Laundry Are You Responsible For In A Week?

2. How Often Do You Have The Opportunity To Wash Laundry?

3: What Types Of Things Need To Be Washed, And How Often?

4: Do You Like Or Hate Doing Laundry?

There are no right or wrong answers. You really just need to be honest with yourself about what will work best for you and your family.

You may at first have to play around with it a bit to find what really works. Keep in mind that if you don’t like the laundry routine you created or things change, it’s not written in stone, just start over by tweaking or reworking it to find a better way for you and your family to get your laundry done that does work and leads to a simpler life with at least one stressor out of the equation of life.

Family Responsibilities Discrimination

Family responsibilities discrimination, also called caregiver discrimination, is discrimination in the workplace based on an employee’s responsibility, real or perceived, to care for family members. Employers may discriminate based on family responsibilities when they deny employment or promotions, harass, pay less, or otherwise take negative employment action against an employee because of the employee’s family responsibilities.

Family responsibilities can include caring for a spouse, child, or parent, being pregnant, or even the chance of becoming pregnant, caring for a disabled child, or sibling or caring for an aging parent. Family responsibilities discrimination can affect almost any employee. Family responsibilities discrimination may also co-exist with marital status or family status discrimination, when unmarried and married couples are treated differently. FRD eeoc.gov

If you feel you’ve been a victim of harassment, discrimination, retaliation etc…contact one of these agencies they can guide you and help determine what your next steps should be.

ORIGINAL BLUE DAWN . . . IT’S NOT JUST FOR DISHES! Hasn’t been for awhile now, we’ve known of many but some may surprise you.

In each shower we have a scrub sponge wand filled with Dawn! Everyone knows to scrub the shower/bath real quick BEFORE getting into the shower. That’s it! Simple…while showering it gets rinsed and our showers are consistently kept clean without having to scrub them down! You’re welcome!

Here are many other great uses for Dawn!

Wild Life
Ever wonder why Dawn Dishwashing Liquid is the wildlife cleaner of choice after an oil spill? According to the International Bird Rescue Research Center, Dawn effectively removes grease but does not cause harm to the skin of the birds. It’s also biodegradable and contains no phosphates.

BUBBLES
According to Bubbles.org, Dawn dishwashing liquid makes great homemade bubbles. Here is the Giant Bubble Recipe used in bubble makers at many children’s museums: 1/2 cup Ultra Dawn 1/2 gallon warm water 1 tablespoon glycerin (available at any drug store) OR White Karo syrup works too! Stir gently. Skim the foam off the top of the solution (too much foam breaks down the bubbles). Dip bubble wand and get ready for some good, clean fun!

GREASY HAIR PROBLEMS
Kids get into the darnedest things! Like Vaseline and baby oil rubbed into their hair! Dawn is mild enough to use on their hair and strong enough to remove the most stubborn grease.

HAIR PRODUCT BUILDUP
Once a month use original Dawn as you would shampoo. It will remove excess oil from your hair and scalp and strip away any build-up of styling products without any damage. Perform this once a month and you won’t have to buy expensive salon products that do the same thing.

MANICURE SECRET
Soak fingers in full-strength blue Dawn. It makes the cuticles soft and easy to work with. And it removes the natural oil from the fingernails, which allows the polish to adhere very well.

REPEL HOUSEPLANT INSECTS
A safe, effective way to repel insects from your houseplants, including aphids, spider mites and mealy bugs. Put a drop of Dawn Dishwashing Liquid in a spray bottle, fill the rest of the bottle with water, shake well, and mist your household plants with the soapy water.

CLEAN YOUR WINDOWS
Try this recipe from Merry Maids: mix 3 drops Dawn in 1 gallon water and fill a spray bottle with the solution. Spritz and wipe as you would with any window cleaner.

PETS AND PESTS
Use it to bathe the dogs. It kills fleas on contact and is much cheaper than expensive dogshampoos.

CLEAN AUTOMOTIVE TOOLS
After you have finished your automotive repair project, soak your dirty tools in Dawn before you put them away to remove all the oil and grime. Dawn also helps prevent rust from forming on the tools.

ICE PACK
Partially fill a strong zip-type sandwich bag with Dawn dishwashing liquid, close and freeze. The liquid soap stays cold much longer and it can be re-frozen many times. It will conform to the place you need an ice pack.

TUB AND SHOWER CLEANER
Take a spray bottle and fill it halfway with white vinegar. Heat in the microwave. Fill the rest of the way with blue Dawn. Put lid on and shake to mix well. Spray on your tub and shower walls. Allow to sit for a few minutes and rinse away. It will totally melt all the gunk, slime, sludge and other stuff that builds up including a bathtub ring.

REPEL ANTS
Spray counter-tops, cupboards and any other area where you see ants with a solution of Dawn and water. Wipe dry. The slight residue of Dawn that remains will not be a problem at all for kids or pets, but ants hate it. Should you see a trail of ants, go ahead and hit them with the Dawn spray.

STRIPPING CLOTH DIAPERS
Add a squirt or two of original Dawn dish soap to your washer and run a hot wash, then rinse until there are no more bubbles. Dawn is a degreasing agent and helps stripping by removing oily residue. Be sure to rinse, rinse, rinse until the water runs clear.

UNCLOGGING TOILETS
A cup of Dawn detergent poured into a clogged toilet allowed to sit for 15 minutes and then followed with a bucket of hot water poured from waist height will clear out the toilet.

POISON IVY
Poison ivy spreads through the spread of the oil within the blisters. Washing the affected area with Dawn, especially on children who keep scratching the blister’s open, helps dry up the fluid, AND keep it from spreading.

DRIVEWAY CLEANER
If you have gasoline or motor oil stains on your driveway, you can use the kitty litter method to clean up the excess oil and then use a scrub broom and a solution of biodegradable Dawn dishwashing detergent and warm water to safely and effectively remove excess motor oil from the pavement.

OILY SKIN
Dawn makes a great facial cleanser for oily skin. A drop or two combined with warm water will do the trick.

PAINT OR GREASE REMOVER FOR HANDS
Dawn combined with corn oil makes for the perfect paint or grease remover. Simply combine a little bit of both in your hands then rub it over affected areas. The corn oil and the dishwashing liquid both help to dissolve the grease and paint – yet leave skin soft, unlike harsher paint removers.

CLEANING THE KIDDIE POOL
Plastic wading pools can get very gunky, very fast. Dump the water, then scrub the pool with Dawn and a sponge. More potent cleaners like bleach will weaken and dry out the plastic in the sun.

MULTIPURPOSE CLEANER
Merry Maids recommends using a drop of Dawn in water to clean ceramic tile and no-wax/linoleum floors. You can also use the spray on:
• Bathroom and kitchen counters and sinks.
• Woodwork, e.g., baseboards, shelves, and wainscoting. (Dry as you go–wood doesn’t like prolonged contact with water.)
• Tubs and toilet seats.

LAUNDRY PRE-TREATER FOR OILY STAINS
For oil-based stains such as lipstick, grease, butter, motor oil, cooking oil, and some pen inks, simply apply some Dawn dishwashing liquid directly to the stain and scrub with a small brush or toothbrush until the oil is removed, and then launder as usual.

NON-TOXIC LUBRICANT
Sliding glass doors, door knobs, hinges etc. It lasts much longer than any aerosol type spray that I have tried. And Its non-toxic! It does a great job of cleaning the parts that its lubricating as well!

SIDEWALK DE-ICER
For icy steps and sidewalks in freezing temperatures, mix 1 teaspoon of Dawn dishwashing liquid, 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol, and 1/2 gallon hot/warm water and pour over walkways. They won’t refreeze. No more salt eating at the concrete in your sidewalks

POOL CLEANING
Squirt Dawn down the middle of the pool and all of the dirt, suntan lotion, etc. will move to the edges of the pool for easy clean up! AND it makes the pools sparkle.

EYEGLASS DEFOGGER
Simply rub a small drop of Dawn on eyeglass lenses, and wipe clean. It will leave a very thin film that will prevent them from fogging up.

SHOWER FLOORS
Cover greasy footprints on shower floors with a coating of Dawn; let sit overnight. Scrub away the gunk in the morning with a stiff brush.

APHID CONTROL ON FRUIT TREES
Mix two tablespoons Dawn to a gallon of water and put in your sprayer. Try to get spray both sides of the leaves, branches and the tree trunks. Let sit for about 15 minutes and then rinse the trees THOROUGHLY!

AND FINALLY……..
Here’s a brilliant idea! Need a hostess gift when visiting friends and family this summer? Print off this post and include it with a bottle of Blue Dawn! Talk about USEFUL !
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I think many people including myself tend to get more stressed during the holidays and whether we realize it or not social media plays a big part in representing falsities.

It is so very important to remember that what you see on social media is NOT always a true reality. I myself for example, well I used to be “Miss Queen Bee of Christmas“, I loved everything about it, all aspect always on point. I’d have all my gifts bought and wrapped by Thanksgiving, food, desserts etc planned and done. Christmas music blaring, decorating done and done. I had a system and nothing or nobody would mess with it. Granted it doesn’t sound as pleasant but it really was with a ton of jolly mixed in lol…it was “my perfect”.

Over the years though especially when I began getting sick, it became more difficult to keep up with at all and little by little I felt as though I was losing yet another part of myself.

Now, I just do what I can, how I can. Without putting as much emphasis on what was or what I see others doing. I used to beat myself up over it but I’ve had to learn (heck I’m still learning) to just go with MY own flow and I now know it’s OK. 👌🏻

Back to social media, I’ve had many people in my life that have been super understanding when it comes to my capabilities or lack there of and then there are those that will never truly get it. The ones that will see a photo on Facebook and comment “omg wow you look great, it’s so nice to see you feeling better yada yada”. I never understood that, how do people ones you don’t talk to often even think they can gauge how another “feels” or how their life is going from pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc??

I didn’t know wth was going through their minds until that is…I caught myself doing it. Maybe not to that extent but I still did it. Even the times when I’ve admittedly felt (literally seconds) a twinge of jealousy upon seeing something on social media whether I know them or not and that’s wrong because I don’t know their circumstances. Usually for me it’s as simple as seeing their “clean house” lol. So yeah, I suddenly realized how easy it is to do.

I do know however that looks in general can be so very deceiving. Heck most times it’s really just all about placement. I’ll be the first to admit that I definitely do not always have a spotless home or one as organized as I’d prefer it to be but I mean I’m not gonna take and post a pic in front of the laundry, pile of empty boxes or stack of dirty dishes lol. Therefore in photos my house “seems” just as great but in reality I made my daughters scooch to the left or edited a pic of myself & hubby to avoid an eye sore lol.

Life wasn’t meant to be perfect, we all have something or another going on. I’m just here to say…ITS OK! Really it is…so just breathe! Relax and enjoy life without adding extra unescessary stress to it.

Should a mess or the fact that your Christmas doesn’t “look” as good as someone else’s you see even factor into your daily stress? Hellll NO! Focus your energy on positive things such as the blessings in life…family, friends etc.

We are all doing GREAT in our own way! We cannot compare but instead just give ourselves a pat on the back for a job well done!🙌🏻

Remind yourself that YOU are doing the best you can and will only improve as you go. You don’t need to be better than anyone, only better than the person YOU were yesterday.😉 You got this!

Boston man, Paul Dauwer filed an associational discrimination case at MCAD against Coca-Cola Refreshments in 2011. Close to 9 years later MCAD has ruled in his favor, against Coca Cola. He was awarded $500,000 in emotional distress! *see full award below (Dec/2019)

Summary

Mr. Dauwer was an employee of Coca ColaRefreshments (CCR) beginning in 2009. His employment was later terminated in 2011 with CCR citing the CBA (collective bargaining agreement). Although there were circumstances surrounding Mr. Dauwer’s attendance issues that related to his spouses serious medical conditions and his role as her primary caregiver, the bigger issue was the overwhelming evidence that was able to prove how many other union employees were not held to the same policies of the CBA. *CBA policies MUST be consistently and uniformly applied to ALL union employees.

Coca Cola strictly enforced the attendance policy with Mr. Dauwer, citing 12 “tardies”at termination. They did not however enforce it with all members of the union.

*For Example; substantial evidence had proven that several other employees were tardy in excess of 30+ times without anyrepercussions.

*This is only a small portion of an extremely delicate, very detailed case. Dauwer v Coca Cola

1) To cease and desist from any acts of discrimination based upon disability and particularly disparate treatment of employees associated with disabled family members.

2) To pay to Complainant, Paul F. Dauwer, the sum of $91,373.38 in damages for lost wages with interest thereon at the rate of 12%per annum from the date the complaint was filed until such time as payment is made or until this Order is reduced to a Court judgment and postjudgment interest begins to accrue.

3) To pay to Complainant, Paul F. Dauwer, the sum of $500,000.00 in damages for emotional distress with interest thereon at the rate of 12% per annum from the date the complaint was filed until such time as payment is made or until this Order is reduced to a Court judgment and post judgment interest begins to accrue. -Eugenia M. Guastaferri

*I’m not sure how one can even put a dollar amount on a persons severe emotional pain and suffering. The emotional loss incurred, time lost with their loved ones during depression can be insurmountable. After reading this entire case a few times over I can truly say in my honest opinion that Ms. Guastaferri did a darn good job at it!~Anonymous

🛑 We need to help #STOP #discrimination and it can start by sharing stories like these ones! 🛑

Coca Cola not new to discrimination lawsuits…

Highestrecords for disclosed discrimination settlementsareCoca Cola and Bank of America. More than any other employer. Bank of America #1 has paid more than $210 million in disclosed settlement agreements to resolve discrimination claims since 2000. Coca-Cola #2 followed up close behind at $200 million. *The numbers just keep rising too…keep in mind also, these figures are only just for the “disclosed” settlements. *via HRDive.com